Arc-welding system



March 8,1927.

H. D. MORTON ARC wnwx ue SYSTEM Original Filed Dec; 2, 1918 JIVNVEINTORQ ATTORNEYS Patnted'Mar. a, 1927.

: UNITED STA ES PATENT OFFICE.

i133? 1). Homes, on nnw yon'x, N. Y., assrenon ro av'romarrc sac-mom's 001mm, or nsrnorn'mcnrem. a coaromrrou or moment.

sac-WELDIN srs'rmr.

' Original application and December 2,1918, Seriallio. 264,980. Divided and this application 'm December 24, 1920. Serial No. 432,951.

My invention relates to electric arc Welding, and more particularly to automatic and semiautomatic-apparatus for this purpose. The present application is a division of 6 my prior ap lication Serial Number 264,930, w ich was about December 2, 1918.

In the drawings, 1 is a diagrammatic view showing one form of my invention,

10 and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic'view illustratin another form of my invention.

'Iteferri'ng to Fig. 1, current is supplied to the welding circuit from a generator or other suitable source of current, not shown,

: 2 the circuitv including the wire 11, solenoid and the groove 17- in the work 15.

purpose of welding two plates-er parts togather, the ends to be joinedare tapered metallic welding strip 12, wire 13, weldingstrip'14, work15, and return wire 16. It will be understood that in the welding operation an arc is formed at a between the end of the weldin strlilp or t e a and placed in abutting relation, thereby forming the groove17'; and the intense heat the strip 14 rapidly, itis necessary'to feedthis strip from a reel to the arc uninterruptedly and .automatically to produce a homogeneous weld.

The feeding mechanism for feeding the 14 to the work 15 consists of two feed rollers 19 and 20, preferably provided with serrated perimeters located to receive between'them the welding strip '14, which is in the form of a wire.

suitable guides for the wel ing strip 14'. The work 151in the present'case consists of two cylindrical members'which are to be joined by an annulaiweld, and in order to do this work is rotated while the welding strip 14 is being fed to the are at a and while I the molten metal formed is beingdeposited 'i'nthe groove 17. The cylindrical members constituting the work 15 are rotatably supported in an suitablemanner, as by the center 26 an amandrel 27. The' mandrel 27 is connected by the gear 81 ton. gear led in the Patent Ofiice on or of the are at d rapidly melts the metallic The feed rolls 19 and '20 are rotatably mounted a welding head 21, which 1s indicated in dotted lines, and rovided withkeyed to the motor shaft m. It will be seen that by this arrangement the motor shaft m be noted that the feed rolls are driven at a 'drives the feed rolls'19 and 20 and alsopro higher s'peedthan the work, since the ratio of the gears 80 and 81 is about as 1 to 7.

A fixed relation is preserved between the feed of the welding strip 14 and the rate of movement of the work 15,- but the feed of the welding strip 14 is varied because the weldin throug iout its entire length. Difie'rent portions of the welding stri may v in fusibility or be of slight y differing diameters and the stri 'will, therefore, fuse at different rates. hen the-weldingstrip 14 fuses very rapidly, I the arc at a may suddenly-becomev so long asto rupture, and then inorder to start the are it is necessary to bring the end of the strip14' again into contact with the work. Conversely, if the feed of the strip 14 to the are a is more rapid than the fusion of v the welding strip, the-welding stripmay be fed against the work and cause a short circuit, which is injurious to the work and also requires separating the electrodes to again form an are.

I have found that tions an equilibrium is maintained by the arc itself, which has, within certain limits, if

the welding strip is continuously fed at a suitable constant rate, a compensatory action, as follows When the arc shortens the resistance decreases, the amperage rises, .and this rise in amperage results in the welding strip fusing more rapidly, thereby causing the arc to lengthen. Conversely, if the arc lengthens the resistance is increased, the amperage decreases proportionately, the

- welding strip is fused more slowly, and the continuously moving welding strip restores the arc to its normal length. However, in order to take care of the extreme differences of fusibility of the welding stri 14 and thereby ma ntain thearc, I have evised an automatic control mechanism which isre sponsive to the changes in the energy at the area and which will alter therate of feed of the welding strip 14to correct the variastrip cannot be made uniformthere is a danger that under normal conditions of the arc" and thus compensate for the differences in fusibility of the feeding strip. As appears from the description of my device, its effect is to accentuate the self-compensatory action of the are. In the device ere shown, the motor M, which is supplied with current'from a source independent of the welding circuit, drives through the shaft m the welding strip feed roll 20 and through gears 80, 81, the mandrel 27 supporting the work 15. In series with the armature of this motor M is the rheostat R. The arm 86 of this rheostat is connected to the armatures of the coils 84, 85. These coils 84, 85 receive their current from an independent source, such as the battery B. In this local circuit are the two switches a, 0'. These switches are operated by the movable switch member 32 attached to the armature'30 of the control solenoid 12 in-series with the arc. The operation of the device is as follows: The are is struck by first movingthe welding strip 14 into contact with the work 15 and then separating the same therefrom manually, or in any other well known manner. Thereafter the welding strip is continuously fed toward the work during the weld ng process. In the event of the arc becomlng too short, the solenoid 12 becomes more strongly energized and its armature 30 overcomes the tension of the opposing spring 31, causing the movable switch member 32 to engage with the stationary contact member 0, thereby establishing a local circuit from the battery-B through the solenoid 85 and moving the rheostat arm 86 in a direction to cut in additional resistance in the resistance member R. The amount of current in the armature of the motor M is thereby reduced and the speed of the motor correspondingly decreased. This reduction in the rate of feedin the welding stri 14 results in the welding strip being fuse more rapidl than it is fed and the arc is quickly restore to its normal length. Conversely, if, during the welding process, the arc becomes unduly long, the pull of solenoid 12 is correspondv -ingy decreased and the tension of'the oppos- I In Fig. 2, w and y are the two terminals of the source, 15 is the work and 14 the welding spring 31 overcomes the solenoid pull, causing the movable switch member. 32 to engage the stationary contact 0" and thereby close the local circuit from the battery B through the solenoid 84 and movethe rheostat arm 86 in a direction to cut out some 'of the resistance in the rheostat R. The amount of current in the armature of the Jnotor M is thereby increased, the speed of the motor is correspondingly accelerated, thus causing the weldingustrip 14 to be fed [more rapidly thanit is the arc to its normallngth.

ing strip. .'1 he welding strip 14"is shown sed, and restoring is in series therewith.

It will be observed that 'the'welding strip in the device herein shown, for purposes of illustration, is carried by a suitable guide 34 and feeding rolls 19 and 20. The current: is carried to the electrode chiefly by the-lower guide or holder 34. I have found that it is Very desirable for the maintenance of a stable arc, and in commercial use practically indispensable for the best results, that the electrode holder of an arc welding machine having automatic electrode feeding and are maintaining means, should be as close as possible to the arc. The reason for this is not entirely clear, but I have found from much experience that if the electrode holder is a considerable distance from the arc, the arc becomes unstable and diflicult to control. For example, in a particular automatic machine, developed and built by me, I have found that with a current of 140 amperes an electrode of iron or steel wire inch in diameter, fed at-a speed of about 16 inches a minute through-a holder, such as 3, reachng to with'n to -7 inch. of the are, the operation 's stable as long as the machine is kept in operation. If, however, this distance is materially increased insaid machine, the length of time that the arc continues stable decreases, and if the distance is as great as 2 or 2 inches the arc is stable only for a few seconds after the machine is started.

It may be that this 'efl'ect is purely mechanical and the result of vibration resulting from the feeding forward of the electrode strip. I have observed that this condition of instability accompanies the exlished by my experience, and I have dis; Y

covered that the difliculty can be overcome by supporting and conveying the current to the electrode at a" oint close to the arc, and that unless this. ower electrode holder is brought down rather near the are, continuous stable operation is very diflicult to secure. 7

It is advantageous to have this electrode guide of sufficient current carrying capac- 'orderthatthe most advan fromthcarcmaybea inseam ity to avoid its being greatly heated by the current which it carries, and of good heat conducting material. A wire or rod of an inch in diameter would be melted in a short time by a current of about 90 'am-.

and one of diameter by a current of about 140 amperes, and, in general, the current employed in we] is large enoughtosoonmeltorraiseto i incandeseence the electrodeu'sed if t e latter.

were stationary. Inasmuch as the. wire is fed continuously forward, it does not melt except at the arc, even with continuous welding, and by the current to the electrode near to the arc the heating to incandescence, with its attendantwxtreme changes in resistance, is confined to a short length of the electrode. The changes of resistance are, therefore,1a small percentage ofthe total resistance and do not resalt in instability. jltwill be seen, therefore, that the continuous feed and the point of support at which the current istaken to the electrode are featuresintimately re- 4 lated to the stability'of the arc.

Thelower electrode holder is.

. 1 made adj'usliahleto and from the work in any well known or convenient manner, in us distance ticular of use.

electric arc welding w foranypab.

WhileIhaveshownmeansforstea y.

rent to said strip at apparatus, a welding tool having automatic means for continuousl feeding the electrode toward the wor adiustable BESTAVAILABLE COPY t means for maintaining the arc, and means for conveying current to the electrode at a point close to and at a fixed distance from the arc.

recess of are ia formed between the wofi and a metallic welding strip furnishing metal to the weld, which conslsts in supplying the current to the welding strip at a point closeto and at a fixed distance from the arc. 3. The improvement in that electric. arc welding whereini arc is formed between the work and a metallic welding strip continuously fed toward fin .2. The improvement tha rocess of work, which consists in currenttothewel' stnpatapointclose to andatafixed W fromthe ilnanelectricarcwelding par-aim, means for conveying current tin ac ingstripa'ta intcloatoandatafix'ed carefd 5. faneectricarc w apparatns, meansfor aweld ing strip, means for conveying currmt to the strip'at a, point close to and-at a fixeddistancefromtheam 6. In a metallic electrode arc welding are.

apparatus, means for continuously feeding a welding strip towardthe work, and means for supporting and supplying cura point e use to and at a fixed distance from the arc.

7. In a metallic electrode arc welding apparatus, a we] tool having automatic means for fee in the electrode toward the work, adjustalfi mining the are, and means for conveying current to the electrode at a point close to and at a tired. distance from the'arc.

HARRY D. MORTON.

e means for main- 

